Greetings!

Hello everyone! My name is Kaitlyn Lauren Collins and this blog will be about my experience at College and beyond!

I was super toked to be beginning my studies when I did.  I’ve had a bit of a different life than most folks, much to my parents chagrin I did not attend college right out of high school. Trust me my mother was pissed when she realized that I am not college bound.

And you know what really sucked? They completely pulled all sort of support from me. Are they going to help me pay for things? Nope. Fine I said. I’ve been working ever since I was 14.5 years old, mainly because my parents don’t have a lot of money, which is okay. But mainly too because I was really involved in sports in high school and I absolutely needed new shoes for every season. Do you know the price of basketball shoes now? You absolutely cannot get a good pair with out going over 145$ maybe a bit less if you can find some on sale… but I digress. I started working in a print shop doing Bindery the year I turned 14. I mostly made sure that the materials were properly assembled and ready for distribution. It was mind-numbingly boring, and it paid only minimum wage. But I was able to get the shoes for basketball and the tennis racket that I wanted that fall.

At the beginning of my senior year I told my parents that I wasn’t going to college. Which should not have been that much of a surprise, I was not that good of a student. They flipped. My dad told me that when/if I ever were to go to school that he would not pay for it…I was like that was on the table?? I did not expect help from them for school at all.

Anyways, since they were not behind my plans, I needed to get a job stat. I decided to forgo the last season of track and field, and I got a job at McDonalds. I was thrilled. The pay was slightly better than the print shop I started at, but by 17 I was used to working albeit in the summertime. So, I got right to work and for more than half the school year I worked at Micky Dees to pay for my plans after graduation.

Long story short I took off four years after my graduating high school to go to college. And let me tell you, I’m so glad that I did. I feel like at age 17/18 I was still a child but by 22? I knew what I wanted to do and then I went out and did it. Also, the parental support being taken away was pivotal, because I know now that I can do what I set my mind to. I’ll give you a spoiler… after my initial studies I was accepted into Harvard for my masters. So, take heart if you are a young person and you want to put off higher education, you can still go back and succeed.